All this talk of food has got me thinking about Thanksgiving. We've decided to host it this year and invite friends, when usually we just celebrate it together. In deciding to do this and figuring we'll have anywhere from 10-15 people come, there are two big challenges we'll be facing : the turkey, and real pumpkin pie.
From everything i've understood (and feel free to correct me if i'm wrong because it'll save a lot of time and effort), if you want a turkey before Christmas time, you gotta special order him. Yes, this means that some poor gobbler will be chosen out of the herd and slaughtered a month before his time in order to put a bird on my table (not to mention that I won't even be eating it). Do I really want to have that on my conscience? No. So, i'm sending Jeremie. He's French; he won't feel shame in having an animal killed for his dining pleasure.
Next, real pumpkin. It's been a lot of fun this fall season attacking recipes that call for pumpkin by using a fresh pumpkin. I discovered that you can easily break your peeler trying to get the tough skin off, and that it needs to be cooked a lot longer to get a similar consistency to mashed potatoes(that's the closest thing i can think of to describe it.. or maybe more like sweet potatoes). I think that if I had a better handheld mixer we'd be in business, so I might need to invest in one of them beforehand. I haven't tried to make a pie without canned pumpkin yet -- i've received mixed reviews and a handful of advice, including to make sure I drain it really well. If anybody out there in blogland has already tried this and has some suggestions, please share!
What are your plans for spending Thanksgiving abroad? How do you introduce this very American tradition to your foreign friends and family?
2 comments:
I've apparently agreed to do it for Ben's family, around 14 of them!! I brought back stuffing especially for it, and canned cranberry, and I too have a French person ordering a turkey for me. I've never had to do it by myself before, so I'm a bit nervous . . . maybe I'll get everyone to bring a side so I can focus on the bird!
For pumpkins here's my tip:
wash the outside and scoop out the inside, seeds and all like you would a jack-o-lantern. then chop it into sizable chunks (maybe 2"x2"? or a bit bigger).
Steam it! :-) That's the easiest way! then the skin just falls away when it is cooked. Puree it and then the other trick is to take the puree and strain it in a cheesecloth or extra dishtowel for a couple hours. There is a TON of water in fresh pumpkins and if you don't strain it it makes your pie soupy :-(
Check out my blog for some thanksgiving recipies that i've modified over the years. (milkjam in the kitchen on the right side). let me know what you think!
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